Where is most new power generation coming from?
What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source?
In 2022, about 4,231 billion kilowatthours (kWh) (or about 4.23 trillion kWh) of electricity were generated at utility-scale electricity generation facilities in the United States.1 About 60% of this electricity generation was from fossil fuels—coal, natural gas, petroleum, and other gases. About 18% was from nuclear energy, and about 21% was from renewable energy sources.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that an additional 61 billion kWh of electricity generation was from small-scale solar photovoltaic systems in 2022.2
U.S. utility-scale electricity generation by source, amount, and share of total in 20221
Data as of October 2023
19.7%Petroleum (total)23
0.5%Petroleum liquids160.4%Petroleum coke70.2%Other gases3120.3%Nuclear77218.2%Renewables (total)90121.3%Wind434
10.3%Hydropower2556.0%Solar (total)
144
3.4%Photovoltaic141
3.3%Solar thermal3
0.1%Biomass (total)521.2%Wood350.8%Landfill gas90.2%Municipal solid waste (biogenic)6
0.1%Other biomass waste2
<0.1%Geothermal160.4%Pumped storage hydropower4-6-0.1%Other sources5110.3%1 Utility-scale electricity generation is electricity generation from power plants with at least one megawatt (or 1,000 kilowatts) of total electricity generating capacity. Data are for net electricity generation.
2 Small-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are electricity generators with less than one megawatt (MW) of electricity generating capacity, which are not connected at a power plant that has a combined capacity of one MW or larger. Most small-scale PV systems are at or near the location where the electricity is consumed and many are net metered systems. Smaller PV systems are usually installed on building rooftops.
3 Other gases includes blast furnace gas and other manufactured and waste gases derived from fossil fuels.
4 Pumped storage hydroelectricity generation is negative because most pumped storage electricity generation facilities use more electricity than they produce on an annual basis. Most pumped storage systems use fossil fuels or nuclear energy for pumping water to the storage component of the system.
5 Other (utility-scale) sources includes non-biogenic municipal solid waste, batteries, hydrogen, purchased steam, sulfur, tire-derived fuel, and other miscellaneous energy sources.
Learn more:
Electric Power Monthly: Chapter 1: Net Generation
Electric Power Annual: Chapter 3: Net Generation
Monthly Energy Review: Electricity
Energy Explained: Electricity in the United States
Last updated: October 20, 2023, with data from the Electric Power Annual, October 2023.
Other FAQs about Electricity
Fossil-fueled plants are expected to make up just 16 percent of new capacity additions completed in 2023, based on January data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Carbon-free power plants are on track to deliver 84 percent of new capacity — that includes solar, wind, nuclear and battery storage. That’s a larger share than last year, when clean power plants made up 78 percent of new capacity.
Renewables are still a relatively small share of the nation’s total electricity production. But this snapshot of the power industry in 2023 shows that they have already become the dominant choice for new power plants, seizing that mantle from fossil gas plants. It’s also a coup for battery storage, which went from extremely fringe just a few years ago to the second-place spot for new capacity coming online this year.
The star of the show is solar, which has risen from the margins of the industry to make up roughly half of the new planned capacity in 2023. Of course, solar plants don’t produce around the clock the way gas or nuclear can. That limitation is driving the surge in battery installations to store surplus solar production for use when it’s more valuable. (Batteries can also be charged from the grid, which may incur greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere, but they don’t burn fossil fuels onsite to operate.)